I hate to see him go, but I can't really blame them. Losing 10th place was a gut wrenching blow to them. No doubt he would still be there otherwise. Curious to see who they end up with since Chilton is about to debut. My money's on Petrov.

On the flip side, Mercedes seems to have a blank checkbook and it's open season on big players:

Eddie Jordan - the man who brought you the Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes scoop last year - is at it again, this time claiming the team are set to replace Ross Brawn as team principal.

Less than a day after the Brackley squad confirmed that former Williams man Toto Wolff has joined them as director of motorsport, Germany's Sport Bild claimed that McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe has followed Hamilton from McLaren to Mercedes.

However, BBC F1 pundit Jordan took it a bit further by revealing that team boss Brawn and chief executive officer Nick Fry - the two men who saved the squad when Honda withdrew from the sport after the 2008 season - are set to be replaced.

"Paddy Lowe is going to Mercedes and it would appear that Brawn and Fry are on their way out, and Lowe will be there in a very senior capacity," Jordan is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"Lowe won't be technical director; he'll be more senior than that. But he won't be called team principal either," Jordan said, "because that will be Wolff. But Lowe will effectively be running the team on a day-to-day basis."

Wolff talked to the media during a teleconference on Tuesday afternoon, but he didn't give too much away saying "he wants Ross Brawn to stay" but he "can't say anything about Paddy Lowe rumour".

The reshuffling at Mercedes continues apace with the latest reports linking the team with a move for McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe.

Having already signed Lewis Hamilton from the Woking squad and lured Toto Wolff from Williams, Mercedes have now set their sights on Lowe.

Germany's Sport Bild - the sister publication of Bild Zeitung, who got the scoop that Wolff would step down as Williams executive director to take up the role of Mercedes director of motorsport - claims a deal with Lowe has been done.

The 50-year-old Lowe has been with McLaren for two decades and oversaw the Championship wins of Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Hamilton (2008).

Both Mercedes and McLaren are yet to comment on the reports, but Ross Brawn's outfit has made several changes to their technical department in recent years.

Mercedes have made several changes to their technical department in recent years with former Renault technical chief Bob Bell, former Ferrari man Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis, who joined from HRT having previously worked at Brackley during the BAR days, all joining in 2011.